The present invention provides a system and method for trading advertising time slots for programs displayed to viewers, delivering advertising content to broadcasters, and settling accounts between parties to a transaction.
Known systems and methods for showing programs with advertisements to viewers employ various transmission media, including: terrestrial broadcast; cable; and direct satellite broadcast. Program creation and transmission services are paid for at least in part by the sale of program time slots to advertisers. A time slot is filled with advertising content (e.g., an advertisement) used to convey an advertiser's message to the viewers of the program in which the time slot occurs.
Known systems for trading time slots are typically ad hoc. An owner of a time slot (e.g., a program owner, a broadcaster, etc.) wishing to sell it to a buyer (e.g., an advertiser) often employs a seller intermediary, who frequently interacts with a buyer intermediary. These intermediaries do not generally provide objective, third-party information regarding the value of time slots to prospective buyers. thus, it can be difficult or impossible for a buyer to accurately assess the value of an offered time slot. A better system would provide objective marketing and valuation information that could be used by both a buyer and a seller in accurately determining and mutually agreeing upon a fair price for a time slot.
Another disadvantage for buyers in known systems is known as bundling. Owners may sell desirable time slots bundled with less desirable time slots for which the buyer has little or no use. In this case, the buyer can be forced to re-sell the unwanted time slots, or advertise in them to a small or inappropriate viewership for the advertiser. A better system would enable a buyer to bid only on those time slots the buyer is interested in acquiring. If bundled time slots were made available on the better system, then the better system would provide a fluid and efficient marketplace where the buyer could quickly and inexpensively resell the time slots in which it has little or no interest in retaining.
Yet another disadvantage of known systems is that the price of a time slot can vary according to factors unrelated to the actual value of the time slot. These factors include: the respective sizes (i.e., bargaining powers) of the buyers and sellers; and the performances of the intermediaries. A better system would allow all buyers and sellers to trade the same time slot at the same price regardless of the respective size of each party, and would diminish the importance of the performance of the intermediaries in efficiently trading a time slot.
In a typical known system for buying and selling an advertising time slot, a buyer (e.g., an advertiser) arranges the purchase of a time slot through a buyer intermediary (e.g., an advertising agency) that can also have helped produce the advertisement. A seller (e.g., a broadcaster) arranges the sale of a time slot through a seller intermediary (e.g., a "rep" firm). In exchange for their services, the intermediaries charge their clients service fees.
A rep firm typically canvasses advertising agencies, offering time slots for sale in an ad hoc fashion over the telephone until a buyer is found. When a buyer is found, a telephone agreement and verbal contract that trades (carries out a transaction in which the seller sells and the buyer purchases) the time slot is negotiated and concluded. This verbal agreement disadvantageously leaves no reliable written record to which to refer in the event of a later disagreement over terms. A better system would produce a written record of the terms of each trade to prevent and assist in resolving any later misunderstanding as to the trade.
A disadvantage of employing intermediaries such as advertising agencies and rep firms is that the interests of the intermediaries do not always coincide with the buyers and sellers whom they represent. Purchases and sales that generate the highest fees can be given priority, while less lucrative deals that are nonetheless important to their clients are allowed to languish. Also, incentives to rep firms can be attached to the sale of certain less desirable slots, motivating the rep firms to cast the value of the slots in an overly favorable light in order to sell them quickly. A better system that provides objective time slot marketing and valuation data from a third party would balance subjective claims made by the seller and/or owner of the time slot.
Another inefficient and ad hoc aspect of known systems concerns follow-up activities after a time slot is traded. These activities include Proof of Delivery (POD) of the advertisement to the broadcaster; and verification that the advertisement was indeed properly aired in the time slot for which it was purchased.
Accounts settlement is another follow-up activity that can be disorderly and inefficient in known systems. Different billing and payment systems between different trading parties can lead to delays and misunderstandings, especially among parties who have not dealt extensively with each other before. A better system would provide standard, automated accounts settlement services, thereby creating a better understood and more uniform set of billing and payment expectations among trading parties. Because known systems are generally ad hoc, historical time slot trading information is not widely collected and made generally available to buyers and sellers. A better system would provide such information as a guide for valuing time slots and assessing the performances of various parties to transactions.
A better system for trading time slots could be made more efficient, economical, and fair by reducing the importance of intermediaries and providing an orderly marketplace for advertising time slots that is easily and directly accessible to both buyers and sellers. Buyers and sellers could operate in relative anonymity and with equal bargaining power regardless of their sizes. The marketplace would provide objective information for fairly and accurately determining the value of a time slot, and would effectuate transactions quickly and efficiently. Such a better system would provide for follow-up activities such as accounts settlement, proof-of-delivery, and verification. The better system would maintain and make available records of transactions, including terms and conditions, for assistance in settling any disagreements regarding the same. Such a better time slot trading system would be more economical, efficient and fair than known trading systems.